Shadowy, Eerily Desolate Black-and-White Photos of New York City

By Judy Berman

Jan. 4, 2013

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Bright lights and throngs of people are the first images that come to mind when we picture New York, but both are absent from Gabriele Croppi’s arresting photos of the city. His Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape series — which also includes shots from Moscow, London, Paris, Rome, and more — uses high-contrast photography to highlight lone figures surrounded by shadows, against the background of the world’s most recognizable architecture. For the New York collection in particular, Croppi’s aim was “to silence one of the most chaotic and noisy cities in the world,” resulting in images that are both gorgeously composed and eerily desolate. Click through to see some of our favorite familiar-made-strange photos of the city, which we discovered via PetaPixel, and visit Croppi’s website for more of his work.